Start the Week

Start the Week focuses on justice, fairness and ethical dilemmas. Leading Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm argues that Marx remains as relevant today as in the last century. The American academic Michael Sandel looks at the philosophy that underpins notions of justice. In her new play, Tiger Country, Nina Raine explores medical ethics and the toll working in a busy hospital takes on staff. And Azzam Alwash, an Iraqi water engineer, is seeking to restore his homeland's marshlands which were destroyed by Saddam Hussein.

Andrew Marr asks what has gone wrong in the West. Economist Dambisa Moyo charts 50 years of "economic folly" and argues that only radical changes in policy will stem permanent decline, while former Chancellor Lord Lawson exposes the "myths" surrounding economic thinking. Journalist Stephen Kinzer calls on the US and UK to make Iran its ally in the Middle East. And Labour's former Home Secretary Charles Clarke explores seemingly intractable "too difficult" political problems in a series of debates.

Andrew Marr celebrates 40 years of Start the Week with former presenters Richard Baker and Melvyn Bragg.

Andrew Marr talks to sculptor Anthony Caro about modern British sculpture and explores the importance of Alberto Giacometti's ramshackle studio with art critic Michael Peppiatt. As Sir Mark Jones prepares to stand down as head of the Victoria and Albert Museum, he talks about the continuing relevance of a museum that showcases design, while writer Justine Picardie asks how far fashion can be considered art.

Andrew Marr talks to the conductor Semyon Bychkov about Wagner's Tannhauser, scientist Mark Miodownik asks 'Does size matter?' in this year's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, and author Susan Hill ponders kindness, grief and miracles.

Andrew Marr talks to the choreographer Matthew Bourne about his vision for Cinderella, while the dance critic, Jennifer Homans sounds the death knell for ballet in her history of the art form. David Aaronovitch also asks whether Freud has had his heyday, in his examination of the continuing significance of the father of psycho-analysis, while the psychotherapist, Jane Haynes, celebrates the enduring appeal and relevance of Proust.

Andrew Marr explores Egypt's cosmopolitan past and the challenges it faces today with writer Tarek Osman, Francis Spufford imagines life in the Soviet Union under Krushchev and what could have happened if the dream of plenty had come true, Turkey's best-selling female novelist Elif Shafak argues against the pigeon-holing of multi-cultural writers, and astrophysicist Vicky Kaspi explains how neutron stars and pulsars can give us new insights into the universe.

Andrew Marr takes a satirical look at the world. Writer PJ O'Rourke makes a plea to the American public not to vote in his latest critique of liberal politics, while comedian Armando Iannucci explores the latest chapter in the life of his Machiavellian spin doctor, Malcolm Tucker. Mikhail Bulgakov's absurdist tale of how a mongrel becomes human is brought to the stage by Simon McBurney. And the classicist Mary Beard delves beneath the volcanic ash to uncover everyday life in Pompeii.

Andrew Marr talks to forensic psychotherapist Dr Gwen Adshead about the medicalisation of evil. William Boyd discusses his literary everyman, Logan Mounstuart, as his novel Any Human Heart is adapted for TV. Poet Craig Raine compares writing poetry to the art of dress-making. Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist argues that the problem with modern society can be found in the left side of our brain.

Andrew Marr talks to Swedish poet Lars Gustafsson about whether writers have a responsibility to challenge the establishment. Gillian Tett, the Financial Times journalist who predicted the financial crash, explains the growing attraction of gold. Writer Patrick Wilcken describes the intellectual Claude Levi-Strauss, as 'the poet in the laboratory' in a new biography. And Ed Vulliamy reports on the lives of those caught up in the war of drugs and gangs on the US-Mexican border.

Andrew Marr looks at what the future holds for Ireland after the financial crisis, with the cultural commentator, Fintan O'Toole, who argues for wholesale reform of the political system. While the Conservative MP, Nick Boles puts forward his blueprint for a new Britain. The fate of Deborah Cadbury's family firm was sealed when it was bought out by an American company. But she looks back at a chocolate dynasty that mixed sweet success with bitter rivalry. And the cellist Steven Isserlis is on a mission to enhance the reputation of the much-maligned composer, Saint-Saens.

Andrew Marr talks to the Scottish writer and artist Alasdair Gray about his life through the story of his paintings, director Josie Rourke on the tough reality of 1930s Glasgow, portrayed in the play Men Should Weep, David Starkey explores 2000 years of the British monarchy and its future direction, and Alan Berman celebrates the radical buildings of controversial architect James Stirling.

In a special programme, Start the Week discusses morality, religion and politics. The philosopher Mary Warnock, in her latest book, Dishonest To God, argues that religion has no place in politics, and that it's a mistake to believe that religion has a monopoly on morality. To debate these issues Andrew Marr is joined by Stanley Hauerwas, named 'America's Best Theologian' by Time magazine, the philosopher, humanist and former Professor of Geriatric Medicine Raymond Tallis, and the former Conservative MP John Gummer, now Lord Deben, who converted to Catholicism in 1994.

In a special programme recorded at the Cheltenham Literature Festival Andrew Marr talks to Bernhard Schlink, author of 'The Reader', about his latest novel to be translated, which pits youthful idealism against the reality of terrorism. Margaret MacMillan explores the uses and abuses of history, while Peter Snow tries to unpick the man from the legend in his biography of Wellington. Sebastian Faulks explores the history of the novel, and discusses the challenges in both historical and contemporary fiction.

Andrew Marr talks to Jonathan Franzen, hailed as a 'Great American Novelist' for his latest book, Freedom. The playwright Shelagh Stephenson explores family tensions in her new play, about what happens when a missing child returns home. Philosophy is under attack as advances in neuroscience question many of its assumptions, and yet Barry Smith argues that the science of the mind needs philosophers now more than ever. And Robert Douglas-Fairhurst celebrates the great Victorian journalist Henry Mayhew and his captivating portraits of life on the streets of London.